Trump's Indo-Pacific policy expects India to play a more 'weighty role'

NEW DELHI: The US expects India to play a more "weighty role" as it rolls out its "free and open Indo-Pacific strategy". The strategy was articulated in

Washington

on the eve of an

India-US-Japan trilateral dialogue

in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Briefing journalists on US President Donald Trump's Indo-Pacific strategy, US official Alex Wong says it was in the US' interest that "India play an increasingly weighty role in the region. India is a nation that is invested in a free and open order. It is a democracy. It is a nation that can bookend and anchor the free and open order in the Indo-Pacific region, and it's our policy to ensure that India does play that role, does become over time a more influential player in the region." This, he said was part of India's historical and current-day reality. Wong said India's role would be on "all fronts - security, economic and diplomatic".

Meanwhile, Alice Wells, senior official in charge of south and central Asia in the US state department, along with her colleague Susan Thornton who is in charge of East Asia will meet Munu Mahawar and Pranay Verma as well as senior Japanese officials on Wednesday. The Indo-Pacific strategy is expected to be sharpened as all three countries plan to coordinate their policies in this region According to statement, Wells will also participate in the India-US Forum, hosted by the Ananta Centre and MEA.

Wong in his remarks said that US wants Indo-Pacific nations to be "free from coercion" a thinly veiled reference to China's strong arm economic tactics. "By open, we first and foremost mean open sea lines of communication and open airways. ...Secondly, we mean more open logistics - infrastructure. We want to assist the region in doing infrastructure in the right way, infrastructure that truly does drive integration and raises the GDPs of the constituent economies, not weigh them down."